Seeing Rukia in such high spirts, at least, as much as she could be given the situation, helped to put Souma at ease. Since it was like that, he didn't even minded that such fun was made at his expense. He could certinaly endure it, in her behalf. That is, until old photo albuns came into play. That was the point where Souma drew the line. Still it made him happy that she could still smile after witnessing what happened to her former boyfriend. No matter the state in which their relationship was, it couldn't be easy to bear witness to something like that. The very memory seemed to make the flavour of his food to vanish almost completely.
Suddenly, he noticed he was at breaking point himself. He never saw that much violence, such raw evil, displayed and affecting everything around it. The fact that he was able to fight it at least to some degree came as a surprise, but the fact was that all around that situation was horrible, to the point of despair. That sense of normality, his own apparent coolness, suddenly became clear to himself as an act. He wasn't cool and collected as he appeared to be. Inside him, fear, anger and a whole other row of feelings boiled and twirled on his gut, making his insides tight and hurt. On the outide, on the other hand, he was just as he had ever been. Calm, collected and even a little bit charming. It was an act. Purely an act.
But it was one he would kept. Because it was an act that, for now, was giving strength to those around him. Especially Rukia. And she needed that right now. Soon, if they got lucky, they would have more answers and help from the place she called "Soul Society".
"...ma-chan! Souma-chan!" - he heard the voice of his mother. He looked at her, suddenly startled. - "Are you listening? If you don't eat, it will get cold..." - she smiled.
"Oh... Oh! Yeah, sorry, okaasan." - he replied, flasing her one of his best smiles, then went back to his food.
"This boy is always like this, Rukia-chan! Always lost in his own mind!" - she sighed, but in a manner that clearly showed how much she loved him. Then she turned back to the raven haired girl - "Must be tough being his girlfriend, huh?!" - she asked Rukia, with a devilish smile on her lips.
"Okaasan!" - protested Souma, blushing. - "It's not like that!"
"Oh, I know, I know..." - smiled Saeko.
Souma kept eating, while watching the interaction between both woman, that for now, lived together. Saeko clearly took a liking to Rukia, as she always seemed to do with everyone. Probably she already considered the girl to be her daughter-in-law. Once he finished eating, Souma got up, and started to clean up, leaving both girls to talk. While washing he suddenly remembered.
"Oh yeah... Okaasan, can you please fix the futon for Kuchiki-senpai?" - he asked, while washing a pile of dishes.
"Yes! Of Course!" - replied Saeko, with such eagerness, that made Souma almost regret it, as she dashed to the stairs.
"WAIT!" - he shouted - "On the guest room, you hear?! Not side by side with mine, you crazy woman!!!"